Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessCraft malicious Office document with malformed buffer field
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DeliveryDeliver file via phishing or file share
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ExploitUser opens document in vulnerable Office version
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ExecutionOut-of-bounds read triggered in file parser
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PersistSensitive process memory contents leaked
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ImpactAttacker recovers disclosed data
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, read limits
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | User interaction is required - the target must open or preview a maliciously crafted Office document, as indicated by UI:R in the CVSS vector. The attack vector is local (AV:L), meaning the malicious file must be accessible to the user's local system, typically via a delivered attachment, downloaded file, or shared network path. No system-level authentication or elevated privileges are required from the attacker (PR:N), but social engineering or another delivery mechanism is necessary to place the file in reach of the target user. Exploitation is limited to confidentiality impact only (I:N, A:N) and is contained within the Office process scope (S:U). SSVC confirms the attack is not automatable, ruling out worm-style propagation. No specific non-default configuration of Office is required - any vulnerable installed version is affected when processing a crafted file. |
| Impact | Multiple signals converge on a moderate real-world priority. The CVSS base score of 5.5 reflects the local attack vector (AV:L) and required user interaction (UI:R), which substantially limit opportunistic exploitation compared to a network-reachable flaw. PR:N confirms no system authentication is required, but the local vector means an attacker must first deliver a malicious file and rely on user action - a non-trivial barrier consistent with SSVC's Automatable: no classification. SSVC also rates exploitation as none and technical impact as partial, reinforcing that this is not a zero-friction attack path. EPSS data was not provided, so quantitative exploitation probability cannot be assessed. The flaw is not in CISA KEV, and no public exploit has been identified at time of analysis. The primary risk driver is breadth of exposure: virtually every enterprise Windows or macOS environment runs a vulnerable Office version, so even a locally-exploited information disclosure at moderate probability represents a realistic phishing-to-document-open attack chain against high-value targets. The absence of integrity and availability impact (I:N, A:N) means this cannot be used standalone for persistence or disruption - it is most dangerous as a reconnaissance or credential-harvesting step chained with other techniques. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker crafts a malicious Office document containing a file-format structure with a deliberately malformed length or offset field designed to trigger an out-of-bounds read in the Office parser. The attacker delivers this file via phishing email or a compromised file share, and when a target user opens it in a vulnerable version of Office, the parser reads memory beyond the intended buffer boundary, potentially leaking process memory contents - including document fragments, session tokens, or cached credentials - which the attacker retrieves through an embedded exfiltration mechanism or by observing application behavior. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, but the attack requires no special technical knowledge beyond crafting or adapting the malicious file. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Jul 14, 2026
Out-of-bounds read in Microsoft Office exposes sensitive memory contents to a local, unauthenticated attacker who can induce a user to open a malicious document. Affected products span the full current Office portfolio - Office 2016 through LTSC 2024 on both Windows and macOS - making the blast radius broad despite the local attack vector. No public exploit identified at time of analysis and SSVC classifies exploitation as none and not automatable, though the high confidentiality impact (C:H) and near-universal deployment of Office keep this a meaningful patching priority.
RemediationAI
Apply the vendor-released patch through Microsoft Update, Windows Update for Business, or the Microsoft 365 admin center - the patch is confirmed available per the Microsoft Security Response Center advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-56195. The exact patched build version is not independently confirmed from the available input data; check the advisory directly for the specific KB article and build numbers. As a compensating control where immediate patching is not feasible, organizations can enable Office Protected View and disable macros for documents received from external sources, which would add an additional prompt layer before the malicious file is fully parsed - note this reduces user friction resistance rather than eliminating the vulnerability. Mark-of-the-Web enforcement (ensuring files downloaded from the internet are flagged and opened in Protected View) also raises the bar for exploitation without eliminating it.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 4 packages in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) describes a condition where a program reads data beyond the end of an allocated buffer. In a document-processing application like Microsoft Office, this typically manifests in a file-format parser when a crafted input supplies a length or offset value that causes the parser to read memory outside the intended structure. The affected CPE strings confirm the flaw exists across cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:microsoft_365_apps_for_enterprise, cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:microsoft_office_2016, cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:microsoft_office_2019, cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:microsoft_office_ltsc_2021, cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:microsoft_office_ltsc_2024, and their macOS counterparts (microsoft_office_365_for_mac, microsoft_office_ltsc_for_mac_2021, microsoft_office_ltsc_for_mac_2024). The scope is unchanged (S:U), meaning the out-of-bounds read is contained within the Office process boundary and does not directly break into the OS or another application - though leaked memory may contain credentials, tokens, or document content from that process.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Local vector with user interaction required to open a crafted file; no privileges needed; confidentiality-only impact consistent with an out-of-bounds read.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
DescriptionCVE.org
Out-of-bounds read in Microsoft Office allows an unauthorized attacker to disclose information locally.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
Local code execution in Microsoft Word (and Office/SharePoint components that render Word content) stems from an integer
Arbitrary code execution in Microsoft Office Word (and the broader Office/365/SharePoint family) arises from a stack-bas
Local code execution in Microsoft Word (part of Microsoft 365 Apps, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021/2024, and Office for M
Arbitrary code execution in Microsoft PowerPoint (and the broader Microsoft Office/365 suite on Windows and macOS) arise
Local code execution in Microsoft Office PowerPoint (including Microsoft 365 Apps, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021/2024, a
Local code execution in Microsoft Office PowerPoint (CWE-122 heap-based buffer overflow) lets an unauthorized attacker r
Local code execution in Microsoft Word (and the wider Microsoft Office / Microsoft 365 Apps family) lets an unauthorized
Local code execution in Microsoft Word (Office 2016/2019, Microsoft 365 Apps, Office LTSC 2021/2024) arises from a heap-
Local code execution in Microsoft Office Word (CWE-416 use-after-free) allows an unauthorized attacker to run arbitrary
Local code execution in Microsoft Office Word (Microsoft 365 Apps, Office 2019/LTSC 2021/2024, Word 2016, and the macOS
Local code execution in Microsoft Office Word (via a stack-based buffer overflow, CWE-121) lets an attacker run arbitrar
Local code execution in Microsoft Office Word (across Microsoft 365 Apps, Office 2019/LTSC 2021/2024, Office for Mac, an
EUVD-2026-44250
GHSA-pw4r-cm2r-6pph
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB